Iran demands compensation from US for 25 years of sanctions

Deputy Chief for Legal Affairs of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite unit of the Iranian armed forces, General Ali Shamkhani has said that the US must compensate Iran with $1 trillion in damages for the sanctions imposed on Tehran.

"The Americans must pay Iran $1 trillion in compensation for the damage they have caused to our country by restraining it," Shamkhani said, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

The general noted that the US began imposing sanctions on Iran after the Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the "spy nest" (the US Embassy in Tehran), rather than after Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

Shamkhani added that US authorities have supported terrorist groups in the Middle East, which have harmed the national security of the Islamic Republic. The US imposed its first unilateral sanctions on Iran shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Shah's regime. 

The sanctions were triggered by the takeover of the US Embassy and the hostage-taking of American diplomats in Tehran by a group of Iranian students on November 4, 1979. During that period, Washington exerted heavy pressure on Tehran. By executive order on November 14, 1979, US President Jimmy Carter halted the purchase of Iranian oil, froze Iranian assets in US banks and their foreign branches, and banned the sale of military equipment to Iran. 

After the break in diplomatic relations in April 1980, Washington imposed a ban on the export of US goods to Iran (including food and medicine), as well as restrictions on money transfers to the country and the import of Iranian goods. In the following years, the US sanctions regime against Iran was repeatedly adjusted: some restrictions were lifted, others were tightened, and new measures were introduced. After the 2015 nuclear deal, sanctions were gradually lifted in response to Iran's limitations on its nuclear programme. 

However, in 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and reinstated all American sanctions, which remain in effect up till now. After 2022, additional measures were imposed in response to alleged military supplies from Tehran to Moscow, claims that were denied by both sides.  

Earlier, Iran threatened to accelerate its nuclear programme in response to a hostile resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

By Naila Huseynova